"Not In Purview Of State": Union Minister Slams Congress On Caste-Census

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday slammed the Congress party for promising to conduct the Caste Census in their manifesto. He argued that holding of caste survey comes under the purview of the Central government, adding that it reflects that the grand old party is trying to divide the nation.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said "They can never do (caste census) because it is not in the purview of the state government. As per the Constitution, it is the Centre's subject and only the central Government can do it. Their party (Congress) has always divided the nation and they are trying to do it once again. Congress does not have the moral right to talk about OBCs."

Speaking on the Red Diary which has taken centre stage in the election campaign of BJP in Rajasthan, Mr Shekhawat asked "When will the truth come out"?

"When Lal Diary was initially discussed in 2020, its existence was denied. Now when their minister in the Legislative Assembly showed this, a rugby match took place in the Assembly. He was also removed from the party. There must have been a story of their corruption in that diary. When will the government match the handwriting of the things written in it and the truth will come out?" Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took a swipe at Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, calling him a "jaadugar" (magician) and said that his face is fading away with each turning page of the 'red diary'.

Addressing a public rally in Baran's Anta in poll-bound Rajasthan, the PM alleged that there is documentation of how the land, forest and water have been sold during the last five years of Congress' governance in the dairy.

"Nowadays, there is talk of the Red diary and the Jadugar ji's face is fading away with each turning page of the Red diary. In this red dairy, it is clearly written how your land, water, and forest have been sold out," the PM said.

Out of the 200 assembly seats in the state, 199 will be contested on November 25 as the elections in the Karanpur assembly constituency were adjourned after the Congress candidate from Karanpur, Gurmeet Singh Koonar, passed away due to sepsis. Koonar was the sitting MLA from Karanpur.

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